Narcissist* Traits – They Deceive Themselves

3 “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, You who live in the clefts of the rock, In the loftiness of your dwelling place, Who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?’

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Narcissists / Those With Insolent Pride / Scoffers focus are naturally deceptive as to who they really are, what is really in their heart, and the nature of their real intentions. But one of the people they deceive the most is themselves.

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How does a narcissist deceive himself?

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His pride causes him to think to himself – “I’m “fine”, there’s nothing wrong with me”

He deludes himself into thinking that God won’t ever judge or humble him – “I am special, and therefore God will make an exception for the “mistakes” that I make”

If he does encounter the truth that tells him something is wrong, he actively fights against that truth, and ultimately ignores and forgets it so that he can maintain his inner image of perfection.

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James 1:22-26

22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.……. 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

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A narcissist typically wants to maintain his self-deception. That is one of the reasons they will not listen to reproof (see here), and why they will trash you if you reprove them (see here). They fight hard to maintain their inflated view of themselves and their position (see here). Listening to reproof would mean that they need to humble themselves, which is they last thing they want to do.

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Narcissist is the modern colloquial term for what the Bible calls “insolent pride” please see here for an explanation